The Astros and Yankees went back and forth. The Pirates snapped a wild Mason Miller streak. The Braves and Dodgers met in a heavyweight bout. Tuesday’s MLB action provided all that and much more.
Here are all the best moments from last night in Major League Baseball:
The Yankees blew it late, or the Astros rallied before they ran out of time — both are true, it’s just a matter of perspective, really. This one was a bit of a back-and-forth affair for almost the entire runtime: Houston was up 2-0 after its half of the third, then the Yankees went ahead when left fielder Cody Bellinger belted a three-run homer. Trade deadline acquisition and center fielder Daulton Varsho tied the game with an RBI single in the fifth, but then New York’s big deadline pickup, Luis García Jr., hit a two-run shot to make it 5-3, Yankees.
Shortstop Jeremy Peña would tie it once more with a two-run shot in the fifth, his 15th homer of the season…
…but García wasn’t finished, as he hit a laser 111 mph off the bat for an RBI double to give the Yankees the lead once again. It would be New York’s final lead of the night, however. Astros’ catcher Yainer Diaz, who had opened up the scoring with his ninth homer of the year back in the second, tied the game yet again with another dinger, off lefty Brent Headrick.
A couple of batters later, Peña would single with two outs, and then DH Yonder Alonso, who has kept the Astros afloat at times this year seemingly singlehandedly, hit his first triple of the season to drive in Peña — 7-6, Astros.
Third baseman Isaac Paredes would then plate Alvarez with a single, and that would prove to be the game-winner. Both the Astros and Yankees would score once more each, but it was this three-run rally in the eighth — with all runs charged to Headrick — that sealed the deal. A surprise outcome, too, as he has a 1.88 ERA on the season even after allowing three runs in ⅔ of an inning.
It was also a desperately needed W for Houston, as it now sits at .500 once more, and atop the AL West, half-a-game up on the Rangers and, for now, out of the volatile wild-card chase. The West is volatile, too, but everyone in that race has a worse record than the Astros, whereas, as of right now, Houston’s record isn’t good enough to merit the third wild-card.
D-Backs Stage Comeback
Speaking of teams that need to pick up more wins than not, the Diamondbacks, who opened this series with a loss to the Cubs, managed to come from behind on Tuesday to secure a dub. The Cubs were up 4-0 after six, and it was looking like another shutout victory was a possibility for Chicago. Instead, Arizona managed to rally, starting out with a classic: fun with two. Catcher Gabriel Moreno came to the plate with two runners on and two down, and doubled in the lead runner to get Arizona on the board. Shortstop Geraldo Perdomo then singled in both runners to make it 4-3, and suddenly it was a ballgame once more.
With the score still 4-3 in the bottom of the ninth, first baseman Tim Tawa walked and was replaced with pinch-runner Jose Fernandez. This ended up being key, as Fernandez stole second, as confirmed by a challenge — if he had been out then it’s the end of the inning. Instead, pinch-hitter Ryan Waldschmidt got to keep batting with two outs, and on the fourth pitch — a slider that caught too much of the middle of the plate — he went deep.
A comeback and a walk-off win, with all the runs scoring with two outs. Arizona also managed this on a day when the Padres lost, meaning the D-backs are now just a game back of San Diego for the NL’s third wild-card spot.
Cruz Snaps Miller’s Streak
The Padres lost in a shocking way, too. With the game still scoreless in the ninth, closer Mason Miller came on to keep things that way and give the Padres their best chance of winning this thing in the bottom of the inning. Instead, the flamethrowing reliever gave up his first home run since Aug. 5… 2025.
The recently activated Oneil Cruz got all of this one, crushing it nearly 112 mph to right field to give the Pirates a 1-0 lead. Pittsburgh put Mason Montgomery on the mound in the bottom half of the ninth, and he allowed a walk but nothing else, securing the W.
Pittsburgh is 6.5 out of a wild-card spot, but these are games it absolutely has to win given it’s San Diego being chased at the moment. And the Pirates have now gone two of two in that regard.
Immaculate Inning!
The Twins have never had a pitcher throw an immaculate inning before. Well, not before Tuesday, anyway. Starting pitcher Taj Bradley pulled it off in the bottom of the fifth, throwing nine pitches — all strikes — to retire the side in order.
The bad news for the Twins is that Bradley allowed four runs to go with his 11 strikeouts — that’s usually not an insurmountable number, but on Tuesday it was. Minnesota managed just two runs against Athletics’ pitching, and took the loss, leaving the Twins three back of the last AL wild-card spot, currently held by their division rivals, the Guardians.
Rushed Throw Leads To Mets Win
The Mets had a great defensive play put them in position to win on Tuesday night…
…and then a poor one give them that win.
Shortstop Francisco Lindor could not possibly have extended himself further to make that leaping grab, which kept the score 2-2 in the ninth after the Brewers had already pushed a run across, which inevitably forced extras. Once in the 10th, though, New York loaded the bases, and then third baseman David Hamilton made an off-target throw to the plate, giving New York the walk-off win in extras.
Dumper Did It Again
Cal Raleigh hit three home runs on Monday against the Phillies, helping to snap their nine-game winning streak while also driving his OPS over .600 for the first time in months. And on Tuesday, the Mariners’ backstop managed to go yard once more: his 18th homer of the year tied the game up, 1-1, and Seattle wouldn’t look back from there.
While Monday’s home runs were on pitches on the outer-third of the plate, this one was golfed from low in the strike zone. Raleigh, just over a week ago, had the largest-ever drop in OPS+ from one season to the next minimum 300 plate appearances, as he fell from 168 to 65. Now, his OPS+ is 82 following four homers in two days.
It’s certainly not fixed, and he’d still show up on the list somewhere if the season ended today, but it doesn’t. There’s still time to prove those struggles aren’t going to be long-term ones, and the Mariners need that if they are going to make it through either the AL West or wild-card competition — as is Seattle remains 2.5 and three games back of those goals, respectively, after topping the Phillies 4-1 on Tuesday.
A Go-Ahead Grand Slam!
The Red Sox and Marlins went to extra innings tied 2-2. Then, both Boston and Miami scored in the 10th to force an 11th, and there, it was all Sox. Lefty Cade Gibson came on in relief for the Marlins to start the frame — the eighth pitcher of the day for Miami — and gave up a single to first baseman Willson Contreras to kick things off. Then, pinch-hitter Jamai Jones walked to load the bases, and after the Marlins got the force out at home on a grounder by shortstop Andruw Monasterio, left fielder Jarren Duran came to the plate.
He unloaded on a sweeper and drove it 412 feet to right-center — a go-ahead, extra-innings grand slam.
Boston would have better luck than Miami in the bottom of the inning, with Alec Gamboa — who got the last out in the 10th — staying in to record three more outs. This wasn’t great for the Marlins, who once again missed an opportunity to close the gap with the losing Padres — Miami remains four behind despite San Diego losing two in a row, and now it has lost ground to the D-backs, to boot.
The Sox are sitting pretty, though: Boston has the best run differential in the American League now, at +105, and the fifth-best in MLB. This despite at one time having one of the worst offenses in the entire league, too.
Peters Goes Yard Again
White Sox left fielder Tristan Peters has been on one lately. He’s been productive all season, and was named an All-Star, too, but over his last 11 games he was batting .343/.395/.743 with four homers and two doubles. Make that five homers in 12 games, as last night he hit a dinger for the fourth game in a row.
Before that, Peters had a two-run double to make it 4-0, Chicago — he’s just been on a tear. And it helped the White Sox to an 11-7 victory at a time the Guardians have rattled off six wins in a row to come to within 2.5 of Chicago in the AL Central.
Braves Edge Dodgers
The Braves, Dodgers and Brewers are vying for the top two seeds in the National League postseason, which allow a team to skip the Wild Card Series. The Brewers, who lead MLB in wins, have the top spot as of now, leaving the Dodgers and Braves. Los Angeles is just one behind Milwaukee, however, which means Atlanta, trailing the Dodgers by four wins to start Tuesday, have a lot of work to do to get back into a bye.
With the Braves and Dodgers facing off, that gap can shrink, and that process started right away. Atlanta scored three times in the first inning, then Los Angeles chipped away through four innings to tie things back up — there the score stayed until the eighth, when second baseman Ozzie Albies picked up his second hit of the game: an RBI single off reliever Tanner Scott.
That gave the Braves a lead they wouldn’t give up, and the Dodgers’ bullpen another loss, its 21st of the season. The gap between the two in the standings is still very much there, but Atlanta has two more games against Los Angeles to try to shrink it that much more. Either way, the Braves put another game between themselves and the Phillies with the W.
